1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a control system for a vehicle, and more particularly to a technique, employed in a vehicle installed with an engine and an electric motor as drive sources, of displaying an indicator in accordance with an operation performed by a driver and a condition of a device installed in the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
A vehicle installed with an electric motor for use during travel in addition to an engine is available. In this type of vehicle, travel can be performed using the electric motor alone while the engine is stopped. When a large driving force is required, such as when an accelerator depression amount is increased, the engine is started in order to realize the required driving force.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-33947 (JP 2009-33947 A) discloses, in paragraph [0060] and so on, a technique of starting the engine following a predetermined time delay rather than starting the engine immediately.
As described above, in a vehicle installed with an electric motor as a drive source, travel can be performed while the engine is stopped, and in this travel condition, a driver cannot recognize how much power is being consumed when an engine rotation speed is displayed in a conventional manner. Therefore, a power or the like of the vehicle is displayed instead of or in addition to the engine rotation speed. The displayed power may vary in accordance with the accelerator depression amount and an operating condition of a device such as an air-conditioning device.
Certain drivers, however, do not take into consideration the power that is consumed by an in-vehicle device, and therefore such drivers may experience a sense of discomfort when the displayed power varies in response to variation in the condition of the in-vehicle device. This situation may arise when startup of the engine is delayed as described in JP 2009-33947 A. In other words, the displayed power may vary in response to variation in the condition of the in-vehicle device even though the engine has not been started.